Bookham Country Market
Bookham Country Market We returned to England when I was six and spent a year in Watford, which had a shop specialising in dolls’ house furniture and sweets came off rationing. Then by the time of the Coronation we had moved to Hull and my first experience of TV seeing the new Queen on a 9 inch screen belonging to the neighbours. My father was a keen gardener of the ‘old school’. Plans were drawn up in the spring for the summer bedding display; plants were duly planted in serried rows, each carefully puddled in and a colourful display would be enjoyed until the autumn when an argument would ensue with my mother concerning the necessity of replacing the salvias, lobelia, dahlias et al with bulbs and wallflowers ready for the spring show. So I grew up with the rhythm of the seasons firmly fixed in my mind. Being a country boy Dad loved wild flowers and I well remember the excitement of visiting Brantingham Dale and walking along the ditches at the roadside until we discovered those magical violets. I must confess that the progeny of those wild flowers flourish in my Fetcham garden to this day. Perhaps best of all was the field at the end of the track by the church, where grew a mass of cowslips. Imagine our dismay the year we arrived to find the farmer had turned out his pigs in this field of beauty and the cowslips were no more. The most important hobby of my teenage years however was riding and most weekends were spent at the local stables. In 1964 I left home for Teacher Training College in Bath where I remember one lecturer being very keen on the Traffic Light system of choosing foods, which seems to have found favour again with our current nutrition advisers. Philistine that I was I must admit that I left three years later never having visited the Roman Baths. It seemed logical having lived north, then moving west, that my next move should be east and I duly took up my first job in Leatherhead and I’ve lived in Surrey ever since. After marrying a colleague we acquired our first very small garden in Epsom along with an allotment that meant quite a steep learning curve but the rewards of picking your own more than repaid the effort put in. My most remembered planting was the winter flowering cherry that flourished in our front garden and which always seemed to be in flower when I did a Christmas visit to our old neighbours for years after we had moved to Fetcham. Although we moved to Fetcham our two children went to Eastwick School and so I found my way to Bookham village and discovered Bookham WI Country Market in the Harrison Room at The Old Barn Hall. The plant stall was of great interest as we now had a larger garden, I still have hosta ‘Thomas Hogg’ and I was quite taken with the idea of producing for the cake stall. This was quite a brief relationship however as I returned to work and it was not until the 90’s that I became more involved and started selling plants. As normally happens when you take an interest in the workings of an organisation an invitation to join the Committee arises but I’d always resisted in the past. In the end I succumbed, happily agreed to take the minutes that first year and found myself secretary the following one and that was nine years ago. I always enjoy Friday mornings, meeting friends and customers, setting up the plant stall, discussing the merits of our produce and listening to feedback. Taking the Market out into the community is also rewarding, as is the challenge of maintaining and increasing our customer base in the current financial climate. This year’s effort for Village Day was my first ever venture into dressing up so spending the day as a ringmaster complete with moustache was a novel experience. (How do men cope with whiskers beneath their noses?) The Market’s stall looked most attractive thanks again to Gail Diprose for her artistic endeavours, ably supported by Shirley Norman and not forgetting Gail’s husband who is a dab hand with gazebos and the like. The Market is open every Friday morning in The Old Barn Hall from 10.15 – 11.30am, parking is free and refreshments are available. Do come along and enjoy the friendly village atmosphere. Ann Tomlinson
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Having introduced many shareholders of Bookham Country Market I thought it might be appropriate to explain how I arrived in this part of the country and became involved with the Market. My parents originated in the Midlands and I was born in Nottingham just after the war but my first memories are of the time we spent in and around Belfast where we moved while I was still in my pram. I remember collecting lime ‘drum sticks’ for the school nature table and the ox-eye daisies, which grew on the bank at the bottom of the garden.